A conventional handheld electronic device, such as a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) and a wireless telephone, includes a keyboard/keypad, a display and a system printed circuit board (PCB) disposed within a common housing.
As is typical in a keypad, some of its keys may be backlighted, such that light is provided from the interior of the key and is emitted out of the top and/or sides of the key. The backlighting system may be selectively activated. However, internal components in such keys, notably their stalks of their plungers, may impede dispersion of the light within the keys, thereby providing dark spots where light leaves the top of the keys.
There is a need for an alternative backlight system for a key which provides an improvement over the prior art.